Americans were far more likely to link Republicans with tax incentives for technology firms ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, according to the POLITICO Poll conducted by PF Global last week. Nearly half of those surveyed, 47%, identified Republicans as the party of tech tax breaks, more than double the 21% who said the same about Democrats.
Ending those breaks ranked high as a tax concern. About a fifth of respondents listed eliminating incentives for data centers among their most important midterm tax issues, compared with 1 in 10 who favored new preferences. The poll put higher taxes on billionaires and fewer breaks for large companies at the top of voter priorities.
Governors in Democratic and Republican-led states alike have moved to restrict already approved data center incentives. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, went further last week with a plan for a 100% tax on state or local incentives for AI data centers. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown has made the incentives central to his bid to unseat Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio.
Democrats have focused on Meta, saying it reduced its tax liability by billions of dollars while expanding AI products. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., pressed Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in a recent debate, asking in the words attributed to him, “will commit to voting to repeal that data center tax scam” he said Collins supported.